House Dems Show Historic Level of Unity
House Democrats are voting with such unity that, if continued throughout the 110th Congress, their cohesion would be unparalleled in recent congressional history.
Through the first five months of the year, the average House Democrat has voted with a majority of his/her caucus colleagues on 94 percent of the 425 roll calls. Enjoying their honeymoon period, 110 Democrats -- nearly half of the 232 Democrats -- have sided with a majority of the caucus on at least 98 percent of the votes cast this year.
Consider this: Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) has been the most partisan Republican in the 110th Congress, voting with a GOP majority on 98 percent of votes. But if someone prints out the washingtonpost.com's chart of most partisan voters in the House, they will have to turn through eight and a half pages of House Democrats before they see Putnam's red-headed mug shot (Rep. Charles Norwood R-Ga., who died on Feb. 13 and cast only nine votes in the 110th Congress, is the lone exception.)
No other caucus of House Republicans or Democrats has maintained such a unified voting bloc over a two-year Congress, according to washingtonpost.com's vote tracking feature.
The previous high-water mark for partisanship came with House Republicans in the 107th Congress, when a string of major national and international events demanded an intensely unified voting trend: the start of the Bush 43 administration; the largest tax-cut package history; the 9/11 attacks and ensuing legislation, such as the Patriot Act; and the Iraq war authorization vote in October 2002.
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http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2007/06/house_democrats_historically_u.htmlIndividual Rep partisan loyalty ratings here -->
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/house/party-voters/
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